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Jae's Momma: "Don't anyone get me wrong, I think it's nice of Ganz to offer these promos, but when you collect the plushies and get an eStore gourd-chair that can't be traded with someone that really wants it, it's a waste! And even though the gourd is something some of the kids really want, the one that wants it the most, hasn't won it and it can't be moved from one of the accounts that did win it! So hopefully she can win one before they fix that particular glitch! "

The reaason I never have nor never will buy estore items such as furniture or clothing is BECAUSE it is not postable ot tradeable. I do not understand their thinking, making things this way. Until that changes, none of my money will go to them through the estore.

I know something about the sellers and those who have left selling Ganz products. Like some of us, they, too, feel ripped off and discouraged by the company they are making money for and, finally fed up, sre throwing in the towel. I can count 5 people I personally know and who were great moneymakers for Ganz an who are done with them. You have to wonder how long Ganz can keep this up under these circumstances?

Actually, Ganz seems to be right up there with those companies that is all about briging in the money but there is no follow through when it comes to customer are and the loyalty of their customer base.

I would like to take this opportunity to shed light on why Ganz gives us all of these prize giveaways for "free" and in doing so, I will also shed light on why Ganz isn't fixing the glitched prize giveaways, such as the LOVE PINK event currently taking place on WKN and the WKN Parent Club web sites.

On September 2, 2011, on the last day of the Adventure Clothes Peek-a-Newz (PAN) event that took place August 18th to September 2nd, I posted the following article.

Quote:

As we approach the end to a very disappointing Adventure Clothes Peek-a-Newz (PAN), in my opinion, the worst ever of all of the PANs we've been given to participate in, I want to thank everyone for posting their comments and insights on this thread.

Ganz has given us plenty of "free" prizes this year but, with the exception of the items from the Looney Tunes and Smurf movie promos where items were deposited directly into our docks and all we had to do was log in to win them, we had to pay a price and that price was our time. Time is a valuable commodity that cannot be traded, bought or sold. It is something we give freely to Ganz when we participate in the giveaways on WKN. When it comes to the PAN events in particular, Ganz attributes very little value to our time.

The question of why Ganz programs the PANs such that one item in a 3 or 4 piece outfit is harder to "win" than the others has been raised several times. On the surface, it makes absolutely no sense to deem one particular item more "rare" than the others in a set. I asked myself many times while numbly clicking on pages at the WKN site, "What's in it for Ganz by programming the clothing PANs like this ??"

So I gave the matter some thought and the only reason I can deduce is that Ganz wants to keep us on the WKN site as long as possible so that we make money for Ganz. I believe that is the purpose of every prize giveaway that takes place on WKN. In the case of PAN, it would explain why we have to find such-and-such character five times instead of, let's say, two or three times and why a certain item in a set is harder to "win" than others. If we were able to "win" several complete outfits in the first few days of a PAN event, we wouldn't have a reason to go back to the WKN site, day after day, and keep clicking those characters that pop out from behind the ads and other elements on the page. And imagine how quick it would be if we only had to find the character two or three times ??

About the third party ads on WKN and WW

Basic Marketing Rule 101 ~ Ads make money. Plain and simple. The third party ads we see on WKN are provided by ad companies which provide sales programs to web site owners (in this case, Ganz) as a means by which money is generated when people such as ourselves (known as visitors) visit the site and ~

(a) Click on the ads;

(b) By the number of page impressions we generate by going from page to page looking for that elusive such-and-such PAN character.

Page impressions are how many times the web pages containing the ads were shown to visitors. Page impressions reflect the number of times the ad code was triggered, meaning more ads on a page ~ even if they are the same ad ~ means more page impressions, even when only a single page view has taken place in a visitor's browser.

It varies from ad company to ad company as to how much money is generated when a visitor actually clicks on an ad or how many page impressions are required. Generally speaking, clicking on an ad could generate anywhere from 1¢ up to 10¢ per ad clicked. In the case of page impressions, an ad company may require an ad to be shown to visitors up to 1,000 times before a few dollars are made.

How We Make Money for Ganz on WKN

I am of the opinion that the majority of the money Ganz makes on WKN comes from page impressions. Take a look at an actual page from WKN.

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We can clearly see three ads from a company called Free Score (I know that's the name of the company because I clicked on one of the ads and made Ganz some money by doing so). Since Webkinz is supposed to be for kids, we know that kids could care less about credit ratings, nor do they even have a credit rating !! Doesn't matter. The mere fact that the Free Score ad was shown three times on one WKN web page means three page impressions were recorded by the ad company that provided Ganz with the ad. Cha-Ching !! Ganz just got three impressions closer to the, let's say for the purposes of this example, 1,000 page impressions it needs to get some money from the ad company.

So it doesn't matter what ads are shown on WKN or in WW or that after the first 20 pages of a PAN event or clicky floaty event or Treasure Hunt we don't even notice what the ads are about. Just going from page to page to page at WKN makes Ganz money because we generate page impressions.

And if 1¢-10¢ per ad clicked or a few dollars per 1,000 page impressions doesn't sound like much, multiply that by how many WW members are trying to get that elusive Diving Helmet, Cloud Dress or Cave Explorer Top. Factor in the clicky floaty events, Treasure Hunts and various other prize giveaways throughout the year and there is no doubt ... it adds up.

The Bottom Line

So making one item in a set harder to "win" than others keeps us coming back to WKN day after day during the campaign to try for that missing item. In my opinion, it has nothing to do with making trading more exciting, or to own 60 tops, bottoms and flippers and only one helmet more exciting. That's fine if you want to put a "positive" spin on it. But the bottom line is that we trade "x" number of hours of our time for these items and, in return, Ganz gets "x" number of dollars by us doing so.

And, in my opinion, Ganz will continue their current practice of prize giveaways on WKN in the manner they have been as long as it continues to generate money for them. Which is fine, Ganz is a business and businesses need to make money. That having been said, could they do it in a better way and make us happier in the process ?? Sure than can, but to do so would cost Ganz money.

And how do I know so much about ads on web sites ?? I am a professional web designer / developer and regularly implement ads and marketing campaigns for my clients' web sites. There is so much more to the world of generating revenue through the use of ads, but I have tried to keep my overview as simple and straightforward as possible.

Summarizing what I said above, every time we click on a web page at WKN or WKN Parent Club, we generate money for Ganz. Lots of it. Ganz doesn't care that the event is working as it should or that the prizes we are supposed to win are actually awarded, they just care that we keep clicking and, in doing so, trying (most often in vain) to get the prize that we're hoping for the most.

Ganz re-uses programs that they already have in place and just switch the prizes (PAN, clicky floaty, Treasure Hunts, Spree ads, and so forth) and the dates the events are supposed to take place. When a glitch in the programming occurs for whatever reason, it costs Ganz money to take programmers working on the next event they have in store for us to troubleshoot and fix the glitches associated with the current event. To put it mildly, it doesn't fall on Ganz's priority list.

But that doesn't matter because as long as we're clicking, Ganz is making money, and we continue to be disappointed and frustrated.

And these prizes do NOT come "free" to us. We pay a very hefty price, a price that Ganz puts absolutely NO VALUE ON AT ALL and that is our time.

My very minor account won the Royal Whimsy Dragon figure. I moved it to the account that collects figures and it would not fit in the frame, nor was there a silhouette that fit it. I suppose that means it is a different series than the holder I have. So, how can I get the Royal Whimsy Dragon to show up on my account and Magical Forest?
AKD

I can't modify an article that has been started by a Mod or Admin, so I need to clarify here that I ommitted an important word in this sentence ~

Ganz doesn't care that the event is NOT working as it should or that the prizes we are supposed to win are actually awarded, they just care that we keep clicking and, in doing so, trying (most often in vain) to get the prize that we're hoping for the most.

My very minor account won the Royal Whimsy Dragon figure. I moved it to the account that collects figures and it would not fit in the frame, nor was there a silhouette that fit it. I suppose that means it is a different series than the holder I have. So, how can I get the Royal Whimsy Dragon to show up on my account and Magical Forest?
AKD

Hi AKD. You can't. The account that "won" the figurine receives the benefit of being counted towards your overall total of figurines added to the Woodland Wonders section of the Magical Forest. That you moved the figurine to another account has no consequence. And you were trying to fit the figurine in a Series 1 or 2 display holder. The Himalayan Cat figurine is an eStore Series 3 figurine and doesn't even come with a display case.

Sidenote ~ When it comes to eStore figurines, despite being an eStore item, they can be traded and sold to the W-Shop. Selling a figurine will garner you 100 KC.

My very minor account won the Royal Whimsy Dragon figure. I moved it to the account that collects figures and it would not fit in the frame, nor was there a silhouette that fit it. I suppose that means it is a different series than the holder I have. So, how can I get the Royal Whimsy Dragon to show up on my account and Magical Forest?
AKD

I could be wrong, but I thought the figurines only count towards the account they were originally placed on.

I do know that there isn't a display case for the 3rd series, which the whimsy dragon figurine is part of.

Hi AKD. You can't. The account that "won" the figurine receives the benefit of being counted towards your overall total of figurines added to the Woodland Wonders section of the Magical Forest. That you moved the figurine to another account has no consequence. And you were trying to fit the figurine in a Series 1 or 2 display holder. The Himalayan Cat figurine is an eStore Series 3 figurine and doesn't even come with a display case.

Sidenote ~ When it comes to eStore figurines, despite being an eStore item, they can be traded and sold to the W-Shop. Selling a figurine will garner you 100 KC.

Originally Posted by twigsthegiraffe

I could be wrong, but I thought the figurines only count towards the account they were originally placed on.

I do know that there isn't a display case for the 3rd series, which the whimsy dragon figurine is part of.

Oops, I meant to type Whimsy Dragon as that's the figurine that applies to you, AKD, but it also applies to the Himalayan Cat, which is also part of the LOVE PINK event.

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